Eugene Weller lightheartedly refers to it as ‘organized chaos,’ but the efficiency and determination with which a team of hundreds of volunteers accomplish the task is impressive.
Over the course of the weekend at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, they sorted, wrapped, labeled and moved for distribution more than 15,000 gifts collected at nearly 300 donation points for area children in need through the Centre County Toys for Tots campaign.
‘We make it as organized as we can,’ said Weller. ‘People are really supportive… It’s something they keep coming back for and that makes you feel good.’
Now in its 32nd year, the effort is sponsored by the Centre County Marine Corps League chapter, the Nittany Leathernecks Detachment. Weller, a retired Marine Corps major and longtime local Allstate insurance agent, has been coordinating the countywide campaign since its founding and said nearly 700 volunteers turned out on Saturday and Sunday to help get the toys ready for delivery.
Centre County food pantries and food banks identify those in need and provide a list with ages and genders of the children to receive toys, with each child receiving four items. Identified eligible grandparents can also receive two gifts for each grandchild. This year, toys are being provided for 1,544 children, which also includes support for the Pennsylvania State Police foster child program, Weller said.
Once the items are wrapped and sorted, local fire companies pick them up for delivery to the food banks where they will be distributed.
‘I’ve had some of the fire chiefs tell me that they put up the schedule and people are clamoring to get on it so that they can participate,’ Weller said. ‘It’s something people want to do.’
Toys for Tots also has an ‘unregistered site,’for those who missed the deadline to register with a food bank. Toys for about 700 children will be taken to Hills Plaza on Wednesday for distribution later this week.
After the distributions, remaining toys are made available to about 45 social service agencies to take for their programming.
Because of the close relationship with food banks, Centre County Toys for Tots also encourages food donations. Donors are asked to take items directly to food banks if they can, but they can also also bring them to the toy collection sites. Centre County Toys for Tots directly received about 4,500 food items this year, Weller said.
Weller’s decades of leadership on the local Toys for Tots effort has helped to have an impact beyond Centre County as well.
The Allstate Foundation allows agents who perform community service to apply for individual and group grants for charitable causes. More than 140 agents in Allstate’s Northeast Region were encouraged to participate in Toys for Tots campaigns and to apply for grants. Because of their efforts, Allstate Foundation has given more than $110,000 to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation in the past two years.
‘My involvement with Toys for Tots became somewhat of a catalyst for our region to decide they were going to do this,’ said Weller, who was designated group leader for the effort. ‘Because I’ve been doing this for 32 years, understanding how everything went, I was sort of the go-to person for our region when anything would come up.’
Brian O’Neill, regional sales leader for Allstate’s Northeast Region, is based in Philadelphia. He visited Weller’s North Atherton Street office in the summer and saw the basement was already filling up with toys.
‘I’ve only been in Pennsylvania a short time but I know over the years Gene has played a huge role in this,’ O’Neill said. ‘We’ve had other ones going on in different parts of the state. Allstate Foundation contributes to worthy causes and this is one we’ve really picked up with. Obviously it’s a great cause for kids and a good partnership for Allstate and Toys for Tots.’
O’Neill joined a number of other regional Allstate agents who traveled to volunteer for the wrapping event at the Penn Stater on Sunday.
‘It’s amazing,’ O’Neill said. ‘I was so impressed with what I saw him doing during the summer I said ‘Let me know when you’re wrapping and I’ll come out…’ It’s just so well-organized and such a great effort to make sure kids get the toys.’
